Celebrate World Human Rights Day with a rollicking show featuring three rock acts and two poets on Dec 7 at 8pm.
Angguk Studio in Ara Damansara is hosting And Liberty She Pirouette, an event which will feature recording artistes The Stalemate Factor, Faye Faire and Eloise Lau. Also on the bill are poets Brotherkral and Rex Tan.
The gig is in celebration of World Human Rights Day which is observed on Dec 10 around the world.
The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation, on Dec 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Stalemate Factor is a Malaysian rock band that has released four albums in the folk-rock, progressive rock and psychedelic rock genres. It is led by Martin Vengadesan (vocals/keyboards) and features Joanne Timbuong (vocals), Thomas Toh (guitar), Harrie Sahrm (bass) and Malcolm Ambrose (drums).
The band is known for supporting progressive causes and will play originals such as Call To Arms, Affirmative, Song For An Abused Child and Written in Water. It also performed socially conscious covers such as Get Up Stand Up by Bob Marley and the Wailers and For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield.
“It’s important to lend our voice to highlighting important issues that still impact on human rights such as wage slavery, gender bias and racial politics,” says Vengadesan, a veteran journalist and unionist who helped co-found Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
Faye Faire is a Kuala Lumpur-based folk-rock group, led by journalist Alena Nadia. The group had just returned from shows in Phil’s Studio, Singapore and WAK2024 Festival in Kuching, Sarawak. Their most recent performance took place at the Centre For Independent Journalism’s Media Solidarity Festival in GMBB, Pudu on Nov 16, 2024.
The upcoming show will see the group in its latest incarnation featuring Alena (vocals/keyboard/guitar), Yogavelan Balamurli (vocals/bass), Nur Khairi Hamidi (guitars), Ungku Najwa (vocals/violin), and guest drummer Malcolm Ambrose.
Known for songs like Siren and A Home In The Sea, which highlights the plight of Indigenous folk in Malaysia, they’ve performed at several activism-focused events since the launch of their debut album In My Mind earlier in the year.
At the upcoming show, they are set to debut a song called Run The Distance, which is a tribute to the late political aide Teoh Beng Hock and the campaigners who fight to keep his memory alive and seek justice for him.
Eloise Lau, a seasoned singer-songwriter with folk and indie roots, has performed locally and internationally, including as Malaysia’s sole representative at the 2013 ChildAid Asia concert in Tokyo and Urbanscapes 2017’s #rediscoverKL.
Now returning after a hiatus, Lau will debut songs from her unreleased EP at an upcoming human rights showcase, featuring a surprise track she wrote at 16 addressing themes of human rights, war, and statelessness.
“Every song tells a personal story, and I hope the audience connects with them,” she shared. Joining her are Syakir and Sam, who will alternate between lead guitar and bass on the night, and Amzar on drums.
Brotherkhal, also known as Khalilul Mokhtardeen, is the author of “New York Called (Jersey Too)” and a Malaysian football activist. He founded Padangbolasepak.com – a growing community of football lovers attempting to cultivate recreational football programmes in the country.
Rex Tan is a journalist with Free Malaysia Today. A poet at heart, he writes about the human condition and is fluent in three languages: English, Mandarin, and Malay – yet he calls none his first language.
Hosting the show will be Parti Sosialis Malaysia and Gegar Amerika activist Harmit Singh.
The event will also be facilitating a book drive for the Prisoner Book Program, in collaboration with the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR) and Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN).
The campaign seeks to expand the Sungai Buloh prison library collection, provide comfort to prisoners in need and serve as a platform to educate the public about rehabilitation.